Reap the Pain
Chapter 4 - Enter the Avenger
"Sure is noisy around here," Shinbu Captain, Ryoshi, said lowly to himself. Having been inspecting since the Sun's early rise, the head of the Shinbu operatives here in Takanaka Town had grown weary from boredom. Even with all the downtrodden citizens being mingled by the passerbiers, there had hardly been any noteworthy faces to check the Bingo Book or any disturbances to look into.
Leaning forward from his leaning spot in an alley, he noted a handful of strangers coming through the proximate street. Among them were what he perceived as was mercenaries, though the presence of two children made him suspect something else. Not only that, but his senses felt something off with the one wearing a hood and carrying a bandaged bound sword on his back.
"Shinobi Mercenaries? I wonder..." Ryoshi muttered to himself, his own cloaked form pushing off the building wall to confront them.
It was then at that moment, he felt a hand grasp his right shoulder.
"Don't," A grated voice said lowly.
"Who-?!" Ryoshi began to say, turning his head around, eyes widening at what he saw. A man draped in black, with a hood obscuring his facial features. The only real thing outstanding to the Shinbu Captain were a pair of gleaming, sinister red eyes glaring at him. "y-you?!"
"Pull your men back to the outer city limits if you want them spared," He spoke smoothly, eyes narrowing with emphasis. "they're my prey."
"U-Understood," The Shinbu Captain gulped down his immediate apprehension. Turning to face him fully, he bowed briefly before leaping up to inform his subordinates. "this is bad. If the Akatsuki are here hunting...I better pull my men back out of the city entirely!"
"Let's talk about the Akatsuki."
As the man in red spoke these words, Ichigo couldn't help but feel repulsed by the man's visible features. He looked like something out of a horror movie: scales intertwined with flesh, slitted pupils, a smile that caused him to shudder, and crimson lines in the angles of a serpent that he truly embodied.
"This guy...he's more disgusting than any Arrancar or Hollow I've met. That Killing Intent before was so vivid that I'm still on edge around him," Ichigo thought with narrowed eyes, his look of disgust hardening into one of visible contempt. "you're a real bastard, aren't you?"
"Oh, where are my manners?" The man said with a false humored laugh. Placing his right hand's forefingers upon the bridge of his nose, he adjusted his spectacles to catch a gleam of menacing refractive lab light. With a pale grin, he truly looked maddening in the Substitute Shinigami's eyes. "my name is...Kabutomaru. A researcher of all things Jutsu and cultivator of many useful forms of interest."
"Yeah, really nice to meet ya," Ichigo groaned sarcastically.
"With introductions out of the way," Neji intervened, not paying Ichigo's verbiage any heed as he kept a professional tone. "Ichigo would probably like to know the hierarchy of the Akatsuki currently in power and possibly their locations."
"Yeah, that," Ichigo said with a sniff, crossing his arms over his chest he couldn't help but cast a sideways glare at Neji for his interruption.
"Ah yes, reasonable questions from a reasonable individual," Kabutomaru spoke in an even tone, his smile loosening a fraction when he considered the words sent to him by Neji. Waving both hands in a emphasized fashion, the pale-scaled serpent from his cloak hissed audibly as it lowered its arrow-shaped head to be next to his hooded one. "but you should know, I am not one to part with valuable information without reason."
"I didn't expect you to," Neji said curtly, narrowing his pupiless eyes with harsh emphasis. "what do you want as payment?"
Kabutomaru couldn't help but spread his grin in delight. The open-endedness of Neji's inquiry felt like a great leap of freedom for him to explore. Turning his lense-covered eyes to gaze hungrily at Ichigo, he reveled at the discomfort he instilled by simply looking in his direction.
After a conceivably long period of thought was made, the snake man finally spoke his desires. "I would like only a few questions answered. That and...some blood from our esteemed guest, Mr. Kurosaki."
"My...blood?!" Ichigo inquired in a horror stricken, borderline enraged tone.
"Come now, I don't need much," Kabutomaru placated, waving his hands around in a dismissive manner. "just a few drops. I doubt you'll be missing them."
"Forget it!" Ichigo snarled, raising up a balled up fist to prove his point. "I'm not letting you jab any freakin' needle in me! I can answer any question you want but my bodily fluids stay inside of me!"
Sighing, Kabutomaru pressed up his spectacles higher along the bridge of his nose. This allowed a glint of refracting light to glimmer and fade to show his yellow eyes stare in disappointment. "Then you won't get any information from me. What I hold is more valuable than you realize or yet to comprehend. Deny me a simple favor and you can leave the way you came."
"Why you-!"
"Let him have it, Ichigo," Neji said in a firm voice, effectively halting Ichigo's continued verbal outrage. "I'll make sure he doesn't get much. After all, it wouldn't do well for a valued source of information and data to vanish, would it?"
"Neji-!" Ichigo began to growl, not liking the idea of his body being pricked or jabbed in any way.
"Let me be clear," Neji hissed back, turning his head to glare at Ichigo's indignant stare. From the way his impassive visage projected it, he seemed to have taken Ichigo's attitude in stride as if he was being growled at by a child. "this is the only one who can possibly give you accurate intel on the whereabouts and the potential weaknesses of your enemies. If you don't chance it now, then you will might as well walk into a death trap. Brute strength hadn't defeated them in the past and it certainly won't help you using a failed tactic."
Ichigo bowed his head, gritting his teeth as audibly as his fists were clenched. After a handful of seconds, the Substitute Shinigami mulled over his options and realized he had few to choose from. Either move through an unfamiliar world without a plan or take a risk to have an upper hand.
"Fine," Ichigo said in a begrudging tone, eyes spitefully lashing out at Neji before turning back to Kabutomaru. "I'll go along with your offer. Just make sure I'm the one giving you my blood."
"I don't mind that at all," Kabutomaru said in a nonchalant tone. Reaching within his left sleeve, his right hand pulled out what looked like a shot with a glass vial cylinder. Tossing it underhandedly, he watched Ichigo catch it with a stern visage, causing him to chuckle. "please put in as much as you want. The more the better."
"You're lucky you're getting any, sicko," Ichigo snarled. Looking at the vial, he couldn't help but sneer at the precise instrument for extracting his lifeblood. Inwardly he could only wonder what this thing could want with his blood. It's not human's so it couldn't be applicable to what passes as science around.
"Ah well, he can have a ball with it," Ichigo thought dryly.
Sucking in air sharply as he raised the needle just above his arm. Having had donated blood in the past at his school and taken health class, it sure paid off to know where to jab it in and not do it incorrectly. With a wincing flinch, the needle pierced his flesh, allowing him to take a modicum amount of blood.
Pulling it out gingerly, he grimaced at seeing the half full vial of crimson liquid slosh within its container. Tossing it underhandedly back to Kabutomaru, he immediately fixated his glare at his pleased yellow eyes. "Alright. You got what you wanted. I'll answer any damn questions you have so long as you answer mine!"
"My-My, no need to get testy," Kabutomaru remarked back in a chiding tone. Upon placing the vial and needle back within the hidden confines of his sleeve, his hand would linger awhile longer within the hidden silk confines. Withdrawing forth, both Ichigo and Neji would see what appeared to be a handful of orange backed blank cards with Kanji lettering within a white circle saying 'Shinobi'. "these will help you out."
"What the heck are those? Trading cards?" Ichigo inquired in a dry tone, crossing his arms and cocking his head up to express his unimpressment.
"Ninja Info Cards," Neji corrected, his eyes fixating upon the tools in question. "they store data by infusing Chakra of the user into it. Only the one who's the owner can open its contents at any time."
"Magnificently simple tools, aren't they?" Kabutomaru asked rhetorically, flashing the blank cards in front of them. He waved them in a taunting fashion, plainly indicated by the widespread toothy grin emblazoning his sickening yellow hued visage. "for every question you answer me, I'll unlock a card. Sounds simple enough, yes?"
"Sure," Ichigo responded curtly, unfolding his arms promptly. "ask away, creepy."
"How did you get here?" Kabutomaru began, then quickly chuckled in afterthought, raising his left hand's forefinger to wag in a chiding manner. "and no, I don't mean how you got here in my laboratory. I mean how you gained access to this world. Try to be as specific as possible, if you please."
As Neji would narrow his eyes at Kabutomaru, Ichigo couldn't help but let his facial expressions indicate shock. He knew now, but his reaction alone, would help confirm this entity's suspicions concrete or not. But how he would know something like that, he could only wonder.
"There's a place called the Dangai Precipice World. It's a rift between the Material World and the Soul Society, a place where spirits dwell who look like me," Ichigo answered honestly, albeit looking nervous at explaining it to someone who knew so much without any prior encounter with him. "there was a hole that kind of opened in front of me and I...uh...fell. Last thing I know I'm falling from the sky and I land straight into this place."
"Hmmmmm," Kabutomaru hummed thoughtfully, twiddling with the cards in his possession, mulling over what was told.
"Alright, fork it over," Ichigo made a beckoning gesture with his right hand.
An azure glow emitted from one of Kabutomaru's digits, causing the middlemost card to shudder with a brief vibrancy. Tossing it forward, he'd allow Ichigo to catch it deftly between his own digits.
Turning the card around, Ichigo saw a brief geographical layout of where they were and where the target was probably going to be. This was indicated by the prior location in crimson while the area of the target was in purple. This was located within a highlighted blue country titled as "Rain Country", covering a sizable expanse but not as much as the other bordering countries upon the continent. Flipping the card, he could see a vague series of stats underneath a rainbow-hued visage, wrapping him in a mysterious silhouette with only familiar violet-hued rings for eyes.
"Pain," Ichigo muttered evenly, already feeling his blood boil while looking at the man's info card.
"Correct," Kabutomaru nodded. "as Leader of the Akatsuki, intel is limited in his origins and his exact limitations. I'm sure your allies of the Leaf would be more capable of listing out his strengths and weaknesses than I can. All I will say is that he rarely leaves the confines of Amegakure."
"Got it," Ichigo nodded, pocketing the card into the inner fold of his kosode.
"Next question," Kabutomaru shuffled his cards in sync with his query, his smile never waning. "what exactly are you? Don't try denying the fact that you're a spirit, I know you aren't human just by your mere presence-"
"Tell me how," Ichigo levelly commanded, eyes scowling at his informant. "ever since I got here, I only have run into two people who knew I wasn't human. They were Akatsuki, from what I've gathered."
"They've already made contact with him? Interesting," Kabutomaru briefly widened his eyes in surprise before narrowing them once again. A hideously long tongue slithered out of his mouth briefly to lick wonderingly across his chin shortly before being sucked back in. A low chuckle emanated from his throat before he'd speak again. "tell me. Were the Akatsuki in question a pair of Kunoichi, one with a ring blade and the other with a number of summoning scrolls on her person?"
"Oi!" Ichigo pointed his hand towards Kabutomaru, fixating an upraised brow-lined gaze at the snake robed man. "that's two questions, pal! I get two cards for answering both questions!"
"How astute of you, oh sly one," Kabutomaru shook his head, finding himself outwitted on such a trivial manner. None-the-less, he couldn't have cared less, tossing two cards towards Ichigo underhandedly. To Ichigo's chagrin, as soon as the geographical layout shifted to mugshots, they were detailed mugshots of the two women he had slain not but last night. "judging from the expression on your face, I'm guessing those two have met their untimely ends by your hands?"
"Yeah..." Ichigo said faintly, a hint of regret fell across his eyes as he saw the faces of the two beautiful women. After a handful of long seconds of silence, the young swordsman placed the two cards where he stashed the other. Returning his gaze back to the information broker, he assumed a more stoic visage as he explained. "from where I come from, I'm called a Shinigami. We're guides for the souls who are lingering in the living world. Beyond that, I'm no expert, but we kind of use special swords to cleave spiritual beings called Hollows to cleanse them of their taint and allow them to pass on. That's about it, really..."
"A monitored organization of spirits ferreting the dead and controlling darker spirits? Fascinating!" Kabutomaru stroked his chin, already coming up with a number of conjectures for what Ichigo's information means. Moments later, he would clear his throat before returning to the conversation. "to answer your question regarding the how I know, let's just say I can sense things few can. Because I have Sensory abilities beyond that of ordinary Shinobi I can tell what is living and what isn't. Example, the Chakra within a Shinobi or any ordinary human is the equivalent of a standard trio-interval beat of sounding similar to hands clapping against each other. A Spirit, of any other kind, sounds like an inversion in the direction and tone of a living being's Chakra, gonging loudly like a drum in comparison to a human being's. There may be a few exceptions to the rule, but that is what I felt the moment you were walking down the steps, Mr. Kurosaki."
"Damn! Here I thought I was suppressing my power and all I am doing is making it more easy for guys like him to sense me," Ichigo chastised himself inwardly, balling his fists instinctively at being found out so easily.
"Now then," Kabutomaru continued, flashing out his orange cards just beneath his eyes, chuckling as he would inquire further. "to make this go faster I'm going to ask three questions at once and then give you three cards for you to examine. Once I've done so a second time, you'll have all the info you could desire regarding the Akatsuki. Sound fair?"
"Sure," Ichigo narrowed his eyes, practically growling with conclusion. "let's get this over with already!"
Trepidation.
It was an emotion that Hinata was all too familiar with. For as long as she could remember it had paralyzed her as a child, making her weak and inhibiting her in ways that caused her to loathe herself. It was only thanks to a young boy, whom her admiration and love had been genuinely captured by that she overcame the chains her own fear created within her. When he died, she became lost in a daze, unable to know how to overcome old fears and tremblings.
Had it not been her memories of him telling her never to give up, she would have never found a way to embrace her trepidation. Instead of rejecting it or being overrun by it, she now let it strengthen her. As long as she could feel fear, she knew that she had to do something about it and become stronger from it.
"That's what you would do, right, Naruto?" Hinata thought with a sad smile, faint tears welling up within her pupiless eyes as they looked out into the horizon of the cityscape.
"Hinata!" Lee's voice called out to Hinata from behind, bringing her back to reality, as his feet would deftly tap but a handful of meters behind her. "something is not right. Those Shinbu Shinobi are withdrawing from their posts!"
"What?!" Hinata spun around to confirm this, seeing Lee's stoically serious expression confirm his words.
"It only happened a minute ago when I was looking for that presence Neji felt and had us check out," He informed her with minor waves of his hands to emphasize their current mission.
"I'll see what's going on," Hinata nodded with affirmation. With a brief inhale, the young Hyuga's brow lines became covered with protruding veins, her pupiless eyes now dilated and focused; the telltale signs of a Byakugan being activated.
"Lee's right," Hinata thought, turning her head subtly to the left and right, her omnidirectional Doujutsu enabling her to see nearly the entire city at once. Ignoring the weak pulses of light that made up the average populace, she could tell the Shinbu Shinobi apart easily, seen as bright azure torches of movement. They all were coordinated and were moving out of duty, not of panic. "they're being ordered to move out? But why? Who could have given such a or-"
Hinata's trail of thought was interrupted by a sudden whisp of movement upon the rooftop.
"Lee, behind you!" Hinata quickly shouted, turning upon her heels moments before he could, enabling her to see the assailant.
He was garbed in a midnight-hued hooded cloak, covering the majority of his figure save for his exposed hands and sandaled feet. Gliding through the air in the middle of a leap she could make out the accented bodily angle he was making that he was in the middle of an attack with his feet.
"Ngh!" Lee grunted with pain, his left forearm barely deflecting the leaping kick away from his face, but still forced him to tumble back a dozen meters across the rooftop. Skidding in a tumble, he'd quickly flip himself back up and rise to a eager pose. "that was a good kick, to send me flying even when I blocked!"
"And your reflexes haven't dulled a bit. Good," The Shinobi spoke back in a hauntingly familiar, guttural tone. As the morning Sun began to dim upon the horizon, ominous clouds rolled over, creating a blanket of darkness that furthered the silhouette of the nostalgic figure of their past. It would only become all the more painfully clear when a pair of glowing crimson eyes with commas dancing around his pupils that pierced through the veil of shadows that hid most of his familiar visage. "maybe you'll make things more interesting than those I've hunted in the past two years."
"S-Sasuke!" Hinata whispered harshly, sliding her body into a defensive stance immediately.
"Hinata," Sasuke directed his voice in her direction, a hint of a smug grin spread across his shadow covered face. "I know that your brother is out of arm's reach. This time we won't have any interference from him, now will we?"
"Don't forget about me!" Lee shouted back in earnest, his feet kicking off the ground in a dynamic charge. With only a handful of meters away from the stoically still Sasuke, the proud disciple of Guy would leap up into the air, spiraling around to create a whirlwind effect around his person. Howling wind would circulate around the spinning Lee, his foot swinging down like a windmill pendulum, his voice shouting far above the ruckus his movement made. "LEAF HURRICANE!"
With foresight that could only be caught within the periphery of the Sharingan's vision, Sasuke bent his head down just in the nick of time. Feeling the foot flourish through the air above his hood-covered head, Sasuke swung out a left hand, already crackling with electricity. As he spun around to catch the opposing drawn back ankle of Lee's, Sasuke's extended free hand thrust in Hinata's direction hurtling a number of Chidori Senbons at her.
The female Hyuga wove her hands precisely in the direction of the incoming lightning chakra projectiles. With her right foot swiveling farther to her rightmost flank, she bent her body towards her leaning shin, evading five of the incoming needles. The remaining three screeching through the air towards her head she swung her left hand at, grasping the Chidori Senbons in between the upraised digits of hers, defusing them of their fuel source allowing them to sizzle out of existence.
During these moments she spent evading and countering the attack sent her way, Sasuke was throwing Rock Lee to the ground with incredible force. As Hinata watched with her Byakugan, she could only take in with admiration as Lee steadied himself with a thrusting palm down to the ground to cushion the impact and keep himself from falling completely prone to the ground. Twisting around his hips to align himself better within the grapple Sasuke had on his opposing ankle, Lee swung his free foot around to strike Sasuke across the face.
It was unfortunate that Sasuke had long since saw the body language's subtle signs of movement that he bent his head back, grasping the other ankle with his free hand.
"Weak," Sasuke murmured briefly, bending his leg back briefly before throwing it up to smash into Lee's diagonally aligned backside.
Moving her body around in an upright crouched stance, Hinata reared back her palm and swiftly thrusted it outwards, discharging a concentrated shell of focused Chakra at Sasuke, "Hakke Kusho!"
Due to having only a single foot on the ground in mid-swing of his leg, Sasuke barely had time to flash his Sharingan in the direction of a nigh invisible sphere of energy. This ball of force collided into his exposed right side, causing his body to lurch to the left, and tumble a good ten meters away from the now free Lee.
"Gah!" Lee gasped aloud with relief, flipping onto his feet and sparing a glance at Hinata. "thanks!"
"No problem!" Hinata said with a stern tone. Rising from her stance long enough to break out into a full sprint, she briefly glanced in Lee's direction before continuing her run. "let's attack together!"
"Right!" Lee nodded, kicking off the ground to join Hinata, matching her speed with his. With both of their arms flowing behind their swift strides it was only but moments before they appeared before the now risen Sasuke.
"You don't get it," Sasuke sighed aloud, his vivid glare watching them approach just before his form would duck between an initial joined thrust of their hands, "Gentle Fist or Standard Taijutsu," blocking a swift snap kick from Lee he also in turn pendulum deflected a downward palm thrust from Hinata, "my eyes see through your movements!"
Rising up with a catapulting thrust of Chakra pushed out from his soles, Sasuke vaulted over their heads, landing the soles of his sandals onto the back of their skulls. Kicking them into a somersaulting roll across the ground, Sasuke was already in the midst of weaving hand signs while flipping forward in the air. Just as the toes of his sandaled right foot would grace the rooftop tile, his body would spin in a clockwise pirouette, planting his left foot solidly onto the ground.
Thanks to Hinata's Byakugan, she could tell what Chakra Nature the sudden manifestation of energy that was building up through Sasuke's body. Pushing herself off the ground swifter than even Lee could manage, the young Hyuga sprinted forward a handful of steps while pulling both of her hands back against her sides.
With a well timed thrust of her palm heels, Sasuke's arched up head would bow down to release his own Jutsu.
"Katon, Ryuka no Jutsu!"
"Hakke Kuhekishou!"
As a column of flames jettisoned across the air, illuminating the air with a vibrant orange-golden glow, a sudden high pitched whistle followed by an audible pop was heard. Mere meters in front of Hinata's palms the virulent tongues of heat would arch around her and Lee. The blurring waves of pressure generated by her precise Chakra discharge keeping them both unharmed by Sasuke's Jutsu.
"Way to go, Hinata!" Lee cheered with an instinctive fist pump, watching as the last of the wafting tongues of fire died down.
"Lee," Hinata said in a level, serious tone, keeping her hands pointing forward at Sasuke's direction. "can you keep Sasuke distracted for a few seconds? I can give you some support, but this will require some focus on my part."
"Of course," Lee nodded, rising up to his feet from his crouched stance. With confident strides taking him around Hinata's left flank and past her, unending in the path that would take him to Sasuke. Slamming a fist into an open palm, an anticipating grin worked its way onto the bowl-cut haired man. "it's time to unleash my flames of youth!"
"Your so-called flames had died out long ago, Lee," Sasuke responded icily, rising upwards into an impassive stance. He only flashed his venomous, crimson glare at Lee as his knuckles cracked independently with equal readiness. "the same day that Konoha was razed asunder!"
A sudden rupture in the air would be felt as it was clearly seen by both Doujutsu users. Rock Lee's body was a blur of motion, causing the very atmosphere around him to curl and bend in a sense of of surreal hyper-friction. When a charging ridge hand chop would swing around towards Sasuke's face, a vertical swipe with his own right hand, deflecting the strike with the backmost area.
Following up, Lee would thrust a palm thrust to pierce his guard, unfortunately finding it swiftly redirected from his person. The Uchiha prodigy would whiplash a number of hook punches at Lee's visage, forcing the Taijutsu expert to raise up either of his forearms and skip back to strengthen his defense. It wasn't until Sasuke was wrapped up in his aggressive maneuvers that Lee spun his body to the right, pushing himself suddenly through Sasuke's guard to ram his shoulder past a grazing punch to impact into his chest.
"Ngh!" Recoiling from the blow, Sasuke backpedaled away from the immediate series of spinning kicks and punches sent his way by the pursuing Rock Lee. His arms buffeted a number of audible impacts, a minute stinging could be felt underneath his cloak, despite his dampening of their strikes. He couldn't deny the present attacks were providing a solid testament to the martial artist's strength.
"Gate of Opening, OPEN!"
It was then as the prodigal Uchiha was eyeing up Lee's Chakra that he would see something change immediately. A sudden dramatic rise of Chakra flow across his limbs and torso, emitting directly from middle of the Shinobi's skull. This sudden propulsion had the path of his movement predicted by his Sharingan to be higher than he had anticipated.
The moment that Rock Lee's high-powered kick soared through the air to hit the target intended, a wafting ball of flames would be dispersed where Sasuke had stood moments ago. Passing harmlessly over Lee's person upon moving through his enemy's last known position, he immediately relaxed his body when his feet skidded to a long grinding halt. With a forceful inhale and exhale, Lee's body would release the stress of the sudden activation of his Hidden Lotus, keeping it from putting much of a strain upon him.
"Nice speed. You've gotten stronger since the last time we fought," Sasuke applauded in a relaxed tone, his cloaked visage standing right behind him. Lee restrained his personal movement, the sensation of a pressing tip of a kunai at the base of his neck. A vital spot and one that could permanently cripple him if impaled. "your Frontal Lotus is quick, but my Shunshin is much faster."
The sudden audible sound of metallic clanging would be heard, causing Sasuke's gleaming red eyes to divert from his captive prey to seek out the source. It looked as if a handful of kunai with paper attached to their handles were struck around their vicinity. In just an instant, explosions of grey smoke would exude from the kunai tags, creating a wafting thick cloud that covered the whole roof top.
A startled cough was released from Sasuke, using a spare hand to cover his nostrils from the faint aroma of spices laced within the smoke bombs. "That Hinata...she baited me with Lee long enough to take my eyes off her! Now my Sharingan is hampered by this smokescreen of hers-!"
His mental evaluation of his situation would be halted by a succinct series of rapid footsteps and high-pitched thrums of metal ripping through air currents.
The faint sound of whizzing could be heard from all sides, cutting through the veil of smog to reveal a number of shurikens were thrown around him. With reluctance, Sasuke pulled away the knife just long enough to plant a solid kick to his crouched backside, sending his enemy reeling across the battlefield. Igniting a Chidori around his tool, he began spin rapidly in a clockwise rotation movement, swiftly parrying and cutting through the guided projectiles.
In this instant of counters and evasion, the smoke would be circularly billowed away around Sasuke. A high-pitched rotational sound would be heard, causing his red-black eyes to swiftly look up, his jaw opening slightly at what was occurring. There above him was Hinata, head first down with palms spinning along with the entirety of her being, discharging a stream of azure-hued Chakra. The visage would be more or less the equivalent of a vertical spinning human drill made out of Chakra and accelerated downwards by gravity.
"She used the Shurikens to distract my Sharingan from her ascent into the air and her build-up of Chakra!" Sasuke realized inwardly. Wasting only as second to be startled, Sasuke coiled lightning Chakra around both of his palms. Just a mere meter away, he thrust them up to meet the azure helix spin of light and cobalt hued hair.
"SOUCHIDORI!"
"JUKEN, RASENTEN KAKOU!"
The twin pitches of high frequency generates from thrumming gales of corkscrewing blue light and upward thrusting electricity would be overshadowed by a deafening collapse of the proximate air pocket. The imitation of a sonic boom would balloon outwards, sounding like a thunderclap to all passerbiers within the entirety of the city. The entire roof crackles with tension of two opposing forces of similar hues, tendrils of azure and turquoise snapping across the tiled flat expanse.
Such was the force of the twin fissures of energy, that the ground underneath Sasuke began to distend and collapse underneath his feet.
Sasuke began to find his body descending down into the next floor, nearly a dozen square meters of roofing falling down with him. During this point their Jutsus had cancelled out during the colliding struggle, the two's intensities equalling out. The kickback would be enough to send Hinata sprawling up and backwards in a spiral away from the building.
That is, that's what Sasuke saw in mid-fall. But at the same time of his fall he would see a vibrant crackling source of light, belonging to what he saw was another Hinata. Brimming like fire were the source of the Chakra luminescence, creating what appeared to be the shape of two lion heads of identical appearance. As his eyes were taking in these startling details, this Hinata already kicking off the ground, moving swifter than he could anticipate, all before he could hit the ground.
Raising his arms up in a visual display of false protection, Sasuke felt a hint of desperation fluctuate through his being. From the way he saw the twin manifestations of Chakra, he knew that it was deadly to make even the slightest proximate contact. His Sharingan eyes gleamed furiously behind his hooded silhouette, his body becoming overwhelmed by the flash of cerulean white light before anyone would know it.
"JUHO, SOUSHIKEN!"
In that instant, a cyclone of cerulean wind and blinding light was ushered forth, sending the vaguely outlined form of Sasuke hurtling through the building. From an aerial perspective the Uchiha would be barreling through house after apartment complex. Entire structures were either bulldozed into the ground from the sheer impact or receiving a voluminously sized hole from the path of the attack and its target.
Like the sound of a cannon, Sasuke's form finally declined in a horizontal spin, descending down through a final structure and landing with a cataclysmic crash. Such force would be initiated that a mushroom cloud debris and smoke would be uproared, cracking and shattering the surrounding structures within its city block.
As Hinata held out her outstretched palms in front of her, bereft of the vibrant pair of chakra lion heads, a bead of sweat traveled down her forehead to emphasize her weariness. Steam seemed to emanate around her fingertips along with the outlined hole that Sasuke had been thrust out of by her attack. It was an impressive attack and one she could hardly believe she actually pulled off against the likes of an Uchiha.
"Using a Shadow Clone to attack him from above while I launched this attack directly afterwards has used a lot of Chakra. Though I can't think about that right now. Got to stay focused!" Hinata whispered to herself, already feeling lost traces of her Chakra begin to return to her body. Hardening her brow back to the protruding veined outline, her Byakugan activated and homed in on the location she sent her enemy flying.
What she would see there would cause her to let out a shaky gasp and cause her dilated lavender eyes. "N-No way...!"
Approximately a Minute Ago...
"Here ya go, you two," An aging man draped in chef attire said in a contrastingly positive tone, placing down a pair of piping hot bowls of ramen before his customers. "Miso Beef Ramen, just as you asked!"
"Oh boy! Thanks, Old Man!" Konohamaru said with an ecstatic grin, breaking apart the paper wrapped chopsticks in front of him. Ignoring the glare full of daggers sent his way, he began to slurp up and devour his bowl of noodles and meat noisily.
"I'm so sorry, sir, about my companion's rude behavior," Moegi placed a hand over her chest, elbowing Konohamaru's shoulder hard enough to cause him to cough and snort some of the noodles through his nose.
"Oh god, I'm dying!" Konohamaru wheezed as he tried to swallow and hack out food, his face covered with soup broth.
The Chef, however, seemed to laugh heartily at their antics. This earned a quizzical look from Moegi while the grandson of Hiruzen regained his composure, quickly devouring his food with gusto once more. "I don't mind that. Quite frankly it's a nice breath of fresh air around here, to see people who acted so carefree. Too often I've seen people who barely mumble a response beyond asking for the meal check or when the food's done."
Moegi bowed her head, staring at a distorted reflection of her face with a saddened expression crossing it. "It's that bad here, huh?'
"You're obviously from elsewhere to ask that," The Chef said intuitively, tapping a large finger over his chin. Looking around at the humble miso soup stand, similar in size and stature to Konoha's old Ichiraku Ramen shop. What few customers that had taken a seat, they had come as quickly as they had arrived, leaving their payments on the counter and entered back into the downtrodden busy fray of the city street. "people around here don't try and express themselves. What with the state of the world and the examples made of those who've tried, most of the fighting spirit or individuality has been sapped from everybody. I can't really blame them either, what with the Shinbu Corps watching our every move."
"This world will get better someday," Moegi looked unashamed vigor, her bright eyes locking onto the man's dark ones. "I know it will! We just can't lose hope now. If we don't, then we might as well be dead on the inside as well as the outside."
"I..." The Chef began to say, voice and gaze wavering at such spirit withing someone so young. It was then during a distant crash, the equivalent of thunder that rattled the shop and ground with synonymous dischord, that his train of thought was interrupted. Opening his eyes wide, he could only look around the shop's roof, seeing it settle back down after the unsettling rattles subsided. "-what was...that about?"
Konohamaru finished gorging himself on the bowl, unaware of his surroundings while Moegi's face paled with recognition. Standing upright, she looked to her right, feeling the dispersals of Chakra from two most recognizable signatures. One was a fierce yet gentle one, while the other felt vile and cold, like coal-mingled ice.
"S-Sasuke...is here?!" Moegi whispered hoarsely, her skin already on edge, feeling goosebumps crawl up and down her scalp down to her fingertips.
"Miss," The Chef began inquiring, a look of genuine perplexion crossing his face.
"Ahhhhhh," Konohamaru sighed, slapping his bowl onto the counter.
In the single moment that the bowl had touched the counter, a secondary thunderclap, much grander than the last was emitted. Moegi could feel the signature that was undoubtedly Sasuke's rushing headlong in their direction with a startling momentum. The fear that had gripped her kept her from reacting in time, allowing the dawning realization that all three of them would be hit by the hurtling force breaching through visibly splintering constructs beyond their sight.
That is, until Moegi felt a strong hand swiftly grip her upright shoulder and Konohamaru's collar. Unable to see whom was the person siezing control of her form, all she could do was be ripped from her paralyzed spot off her feet and thrust across the street, deftly weaving through the crowd of people staring aghast at the high-sped phenomena. By the time she felt her body thrust into a dark enclosed space of a dimly lit shop, a deafening impact was heard as much as it was felt, annihilating the shop they were eating and relaxing within moments ago.
Due to the ringing in her ears she was unable to hear the screams of terror as shockwaves of kinetic kickback from the object's crash into the Ramen shop. When she would open her eyes, the dazed dizziness would be broken away to see a familiar face. Dull grey hair pulled back into a frayed ponytail with bangs combed back to frame his bare forehead. Brown-rimmed glasses refracted light for a moment before revealing a pair of onyx shaded eyes. While he wore what appeared to be an ordinary violet-hued silk tunic top with a high-tubular shaped collar, he wore little else than a humble beige sash around his wasteline and a similar pair of violet hued shorts with a pair of dark hued boots.
"Y-Y-You-!" Moegi croaked out, still feeling her body shake from the shock of what just happened.
"Just call me Kabuto," K-7 responded smoothly, smiling in a disarming fashion that put the young girl at ease. "it'd be most unfortunate if clients of my boss met an untimely end. It'd be bad if I watched it happen and did nothing, you understand."
"Y-Yes," Moegi nodded, focusing her breathing and allowing herself to be righted up, thanks to K-7's help. Looking out from the enclosed space of the shop, she couldn't help but reach up to cover her mouth at what she saw.
While citizens were now giving a wide berth to the accident, undoubtedly fleeing the scene from the wreckage that had been created, nearly a dozen were lying astrewn within the cracked and soot-covered cobblestone street. Bodies lied crumbled in awkward angles, jagged pieces of wood and concrete wedged or lied atop the dead bodies while others appeared to be choking out their last gasps. The one that hit her the hardest was the partially visible hand of the Chef within the ruins of his own shop, hand sticking out and unmoving, a pool of blood oozing out to spread beneath the underside of the dirt-covered hand.
Even among the debris pile, a few bodies that had cascaded from the force utilized to send its target sprawling had ricocheted them over the shop, showing most if not certainly all of them were dead as a result of the attack. Though from the deepest recess of the indented and shattered shop, something lingered. Violet flames of the most virulent Chakra spread, with a pair of skeletal arms already shoving away the mess of bodies and crumbled structure that had piled atop of him. Tearing off what was left of the cloak, Moegi and K-7 could plainly see the person who was meant to take the full brunt of that prievious assault.
A high-collared, short-sleeved coat flourished behind his stalwart frame with the mark of the Uchiha fan crest proudly emblazoned on the center of his back. Trailing all the way down to the top of his ankles, the coat's lowest tresses flourished with the dispersal of the violet Chakra exuding from his person, lightly lapping at the dark brown tunic bottom that matched his sleeveless top that was covered by said coat. A grey hued sash held his Kusanagi blade, sheathed in its midnight dyed wooden sheath that perfectly matched the guardless scabbard.
"So, Sasuke Uchiha has come to Takanaka? No doubt he has tracked our clients with the utmost thorough subtlety," K-7 noted mentally, pressing up the frame of his glasses up the bridge of his nose, causing it to momentarily glimmer with a flash of light, reflecting the ominous violet haze that Sasuke's aura cast. "I'll have to inform Master Kabutomaru about this. He'll know how to handle this situation..."
"K-Konohamaru?!" K-7's thoughts were interrupted by Moegi's startled gasp. Turning over to his opposing flank, where Moegi had crawled on her hands and knees, she saw a very much unconscious and dazed Konohamaru. Grasping him by the shoulder, she shook him, only earning her tired groans. "wake up! Are you alright?!"
"He'll be fine," K-7 said with assurance, waving dismissively at the worried Moegi. "I merely applied a small dose of Chakra to the base of his neck. He'll be out for a half hour at the most, maybe less. I doubt you want him to be charging into a fight involving someone like that, do you?"
"Y...You're right," Moegi realized with a sigh, bowing her head towards K-7 with thankfulness. "thank you."
"No need to thank me," K-7 waved in a disarmingly polite tone, smiling as he emphasized their surroundings. "just be thankful that my boss had set up a Barrier around this place ahead of time. No one can detect us within here unless the caster -namely myself- were to allow it. Plus it has small repellant properties that allow flying debris from entering, making it more or less a perfect place to hide from collateral damage such as this."
"Then tell him I thank him," Moegi asserted with a nod.
Smiling a subtle grin, K-7 nodded again, "I'll make sure to pass that along."
"Hinata!" Rock Lee shouted, finding himself descending into the hole of the building's former rooftop, landing beside her alert frame. "did you get him?!"
"No," Hinata said firmly, biting her lower lip with worry and equal frustration. "Sasuke is still-"
"-alive?" Sasuke finished, his frame having suddenly manifested in a blurring motion, merely a half dozen meters in front of them. While they equally recoiled and raised their guards, the unshrouded Sasuke glared at them with his Mangekyou Sharingan eyes, glistening with iration that hadn't been seen since his assault on the Village.
"If that attack had actually landed on me, I wouldn't have been breathing before I would made my final crash landing," Sasuke admitted, subtly nodding his head down at the exposed ribs of the abhorrently active ethereal construct of virulent Chakra surrounding him; Susano'o. Two rows of ribs seemed to be effectively shattered, though now were repairing themselves at a considerably faster rate than before, almost back to full length. "I had activated Susano'o in its first state to take the full force of the attack and its physical force kickback. I'm surprised that you managed to knock the wind out of me in addition to shattering Susano'o's most initial form of defense."
Hinata could only grimace, holding her palms out in a fluent stance, her left foot leaning back while her right one planted firmly forward. Lee likewise held clenched his fists and put them close to his face, assuming a more boxer-style pose.
All the while, Susano'o's initial state was solidifying, with arms creating virtual Chakra infused flesh over arms and enlarged digits. A horned skull with glowing yellow eyes glared down at the two Konoha Ninjas. Illuminating the entire darkened second highest floor of the building they have taken their battle to with violet hued Chakra flames, it truly looked to be a foreboding situation for them both.
"Lee," Hinata said in a stoic tone, causing her friend to lock a sideways glance at her. "we're no match individually against Sasuke. We're going to need to use as much power as possible in order to bring him down."
"I understand," Lee nodded, an expression of complete dedication crossing his face. "I will stake my Shinobi way and very life on this battle. You can count on that!"
"Alright," Hinata said with a grim smile. Breathing inwardly, she exhaled a long breath, crossing her forearms in front of her and slowly lowered them over her extended right leg. The wind began to buckle and swirl around her, which to Sasuke's eyes, seemed to be a swiftly building cyclone of Chakra being generated from her pores.
The Susano'o's right hand reared back and swung forth with startling speed, aiming to strike Hinata directly within her concentrating frame. The only thing that would derail it would be a blurring outline of Lee, landing a flying kick into the wrist to kick out the side of the way and collapse more of the upper annihilated portion of the roofing away. Before it could realign for a counterattack, Lee would vault over the limb and spin upwards to land a Leaf Hurricane kick to the Susano'o's right eye hole.
"Gate of Pain, Open!" Lee shouted immediately, causing his entire exposed visage and digits to flush a dark red from the increase outflow of Chakra-infused strength. Such increase in strength caused the Susano'o's head to rear back, webbing cracks spread across the right side of its skull. The impact alone caused a buckling pressure wave to indent the floor underneath their feet and bring down more of the proximate roofing down near their positions.
Formulating a number of hand signs faster than one could blink twice, Sasuke inhaled deeply while his Susano'o roared with fury. In the moment his fiery ether avatar tried to bite Lee's frame, forcing him to spin away, Sasuke exhaled a number of fireballs from his lips, causing them to pass through his ultimate defense like water through a sponge. "Katon, Housenka no Jutsu!"
Lee bounced to and fro, his frame dizzyingly moving through the air in a visual imitation of walking across it. While pyrotechnic projectiles crashed across the various buildings surrounding them with blazing unabated fury, Lee was untouched, and repeatedly lunged back to strike at the Susano'o. Landing a titanic pressured punch to an upraised forearm of the skeletal construct, he found that the force was properly absorbed. Backpedaling he would narrowly avoid a knife-hand swipe of the defending arm and charge towards the rib cage, only to have his leaping double-kick blowed by another upraised Susano'o limb.
"Even with the 4th Gate, Sasuke is matching my speed and strength this easily, after just one attack?!" Lee thought with frustration and equal amazement, briefly skidding back as the set of skeletal knuckles thrust out in an attempt to knock him back.
"Compared to the Raikage, your speed is subpar," Sasuke voiced aloud with smug assurance, punctuated by a cocky smirk.
Grinding his teeth, Lee briefly looked over at Hinata's crackling frame. The pensive look on her face looked intense, and from the brief casting glance she sent in his direction, she appeared to be ready to join the fray. With a smile, Lee's blank-eyed stare would meet Sasuke's red-black star-shaped orbs.
"Get ready, Sasuke," Lee said with a vibrating tone, his body shaking with the amount of power his blood was pumping across his blood-red frame. "this attack will be our last!"
"I couldn't agree more!" Sasuke yelled out in an excited tone, the Chakra aura of his Susano'o expanding around him to a point where their floor cracked with even further intensity. As Sasuke leaped forward along with his ethereal avatar, the Susano'o's hands generated two blades of pure Chakra. Raising over its head, it aimed to smash down at Lee and Hinata with unrestrained fury. "DIE, LEAF!"
Before the twin blades and arms could fully come down, a sudden expansion of azure-indigo light emerged beneath the Susano'o body. Two enlarged paws dug into the underarm creases of the skeletal avatar, following up with a similarly sized ethereal lion's head rising up and clamping its mouth over the neck of the construct. With its tail and back seeming to be continuously being generated from where Hinata stood steadfastly, coiling in arcs of crackling Chakra, Hinata held her arms in a X-shaped fashion over her prominently forward facing leg.
"Juho, Shishimanto!" Hinata proclaimed reverantly underneath the shroud of Chakra she had shaped and generated from her being.
"I-Incredible!" Lee thought, staring in dumbfounded awe at what Hinata just created. "Hinata was able to create a Spectre of Chakra all her own!"
"Hit him, Lee!" Hinata urged Lee, visually straining within her cobalt shroud of Chakra manifested light. Even now, beads of sweat trickled down her face, showing just how much pressure it forced upon her. "I can't keep this up for much longer!"
"R-Right!" Lee nodded, quickly kicking off the ground, whizzing around to Sasuke's Susano'o rear flank. With a devastating kick followed up with a series of thunderous punches, Lee could see the webbing outlines of his attacks being made against the restricted Sasuke. "it's working!"
Growling from within, Sasuke found that his movements and resistance was severely hampered by Hinata's Lion Spectre. With the rattling attacks performed on his construct's backside, he could feel the artificial tissue brutally rendered asunder and the back portion of the ribs be assaulted with relentless barrage. But with a glance over his shoulder after analyzing Hinata's person, he knew that their bodies couldn't hold up their assault.
Feeling the head become nearly torn off by the powerful maw of Hinata's Shishimanto, he began to make a number of hand signs. In those moments coming to pass, Lee kicked back to perch on a toppled building pile a good fifty meters away from them, body shaking with an undeniable further rise of Chakra flow within his body.
"5th Gate of Limit, OPEN!" Lee shouted aloud, his body creating a sonic boom from the force he launched himself at Sasuke's unprotected flank. Utilizing his moment, Lee spun around like a windmilling top, his leg creating a fissure of force that would be undoubtedly deadly upon impact. Upon it touching the side of Sasuke's Susano'o, it would unintentionally collide with the proximate frame of Hinata's Shishimanto, sending a emerald gale of wind that would tear both constructs in half. "Seishun Taifunami!"
While Hinata deftly ducked beneath the kick, able to perceive it thanks to her Byakugan's piercing omniscient vision, she was still surprised of the sheer power of Lee's technique. To her right, the gale force wind of rupturing air that sent her violet hair in a billowing frenzy around her head toppled the tops of many tall buildings along with exploding a distant street. "What terrifying strength...!"
It was then, however, that she also had perceived that there was no Sasuke present when the kick had been deployed. Directing her Byakugan and facial gaze upwards, she saw Sasuke descending downwards, having propelled himself directly through his own defense in order to avoid near death. With his hands clasped into a Tiger Seal along with a sizable build-up of Chakra at the base of his throat, she knew what was coming was big.
"Lee!" Hinata barely had time to shout aloud, faintly seeing the exhausted martial artist collapse onto the already unstable flooring beneath them. Even as she forced herself to rush to his side, her Doujutsu could already see the outline of incinerative flames being spewed downwards long before she heard Sasuke's voice. With the outline of a chinese dragon head, it flourished downwards, packed with enough pyrotechnic Chakra that it made her want to move as far away as possible.
It was unfortunate that she knew she couldn't make it very far.
"KATON, GOURYUKA NO JUTSU!" Sasuke shouted out in vicious declaration, watching his own Fire Release Technique barrel down into the building that was already half-collapsing. Spearing through it like a torpedo, it wouldn't be but a few seconds before a wafting wave of orange-gold-red flames would cascade through the city block. A shockwave of sheer explosive force that was spread out faster and farther than the flames would touch.
A smile of revelling would cross his face as his feet would touch down upon the brimstone and ashen earth below. "Almost two down...then the rest will follow!"
The last of the cards were finally in Ichigo's possession. Reading up the info on this card, it seemed to spread over a much more wide area of the geographical chart. Though mostly presiding over the Land of Fire, it was clear that this Akatsuki preferred to make it his own area of operations. As it flipped over to the mugshot, he could tell that the one in question -namely a Sasuke Uchiha- was nearly the same age as he was. With raven tresses emblazoning a soft complexion with a harsh look around his eyes, Ichigo could tell from the cycling images of his eyes about unique characteristics about his skills.
Though he was more interested about the profile and name linking back to prior stories of Neji's. The man whom was a rogue of their Village, a man who came back to take vengeance and helped destroy his comrades. Specs of his kills were even listed within the info card.
Despite this, Ichigo couldn't help but toss the card to Neji. "This the man you were talking about?"
"Sasuke Uchiha, yes," Neji scowled, his impassive face grimacing slightly. "I fought with him once. His Visual Prowess complemented with the arsenal of Jutsu and inherent skills makes him a dangerous enemy to contend with.
"If you're going to face him," Neji suggested, tossing the card back to Ichigo. "you're going to need help."
"He's that dangerous?" Ichigo queried with a hardened stare of caution.
"Perhaps potentially the most dangerous of them all. His pathos is to eliminate all ties to his former comrades so that he may avenge the Clan who was forcefully murdered by his brother. While I cannot deny the plausibility more shady elements within the bureaucracy of our Village's Elders being responsible, his actions have proven to make him a person beyond reasoning," Narrowing his lavender eyes at Ichigo, he practically growled out the last phrase. "he needs to be eliminated. For the world's sake as much for what's left of Konoha."
"This guy," Ichigo bared his teeth, looking down at the mugshot of Sasuke with a iron gaze that would make any lesser man cower. "he did all of that to his comrades?!"
Unbeknownst to them, Kabutomaru himself seemed to incline his head upwards. While the above activities that had been effectively shielded from the occupants, compliments to the unique structure his laboratory was made out of, he had a constant link to K-7 within the shop above. Being appraised of what has happened so far, he nodded with an intrigued smile.
"What if I told you," The informant began, causing both Neji and Ichigo's gazes to realign back with his spectacle endowed one. "that Sasuke Uchiha has just been sighted here, in Takanaka Town?"
"He's here?!" Neji said aloud while Ichigo's gaze mimicked what Neji's voice had instilled. "what's he doing here?!"
"Indeed. While my subordinate has kept the younger two of your comrades out of harm's way, it seems your cousin and Rock Lee are engaging him in direct combat. Though after the last attack, I doubt they're in any condition to continue," Kabutomaru pressed the glasses upwards along the bridge of his nose.
"Well why didn't you say so in the first place?!" Ichigo asked in an incredulous tone.
"I just got the confirmation now," Kabutomaru said with a honest shrug of the shoulders. "we're in a bunker, of sorts, sealed from the outside. It keeps from pesky Shinbu from locating my lab and ferreting me out of this place. I doubt even a Byakugan could pierce the Barrier Ninjutsu I have cast over this place..."
"Sorry, I'm going to have to cut this short!" Ichigo said in a rushed tone, his being already sprinting up the spiral staircase. Even as his steps began to fade, Neji would follow after as fast as he could, leaving the snake-man in the dark and eerie lab where he had stayed calmly behind.
"Please be well," Neji thought with creased brow lines, already protruding various veins with his Byakugan activating, "Lady Hinata!"
Hinata was in pain.
Not only had the shockwave caught her in mid-stride, the backlashing affect of using Shishimanto was causing her muscles to burn up inside. Such a technique was completely feasible -normally- with her Chakra, but having expended so much prior to its use had took a significant toll on her person. Now, underneath a pile of lopsided concrete and cobblestone gravel, she found herself shakily rising to a kneeling position.
Her Byakugan was inactive, her focus being thrown off during the cacophony of exploding structures around her. Looking around, she saw Lee heaving onto his hands and knees, but from the way he struggled she knew he had no strength left to fight their arduous battle. With the sound of foreboding taps of sandal bound feet, crunching ashen earth callously, she knew that neither of them were ready.
"It seems both of you are at your limit," Sasuke said aloud in a factual, if not completely presumptuous tone. His frame didn't look worn for wear in the slightest, his short-sleeved cloak billowing around him as a current of wind howled across them. In tune, Hinata's cobalt hair flowed wildly, her eyes wide and filled with fear, an emotion that Sasuke relished. "I see you've accepted your fate. Just like the Villagers I've killed in Konoha and these past 2 years-"
"NO!" Hinata shouted aloud, her voice still shaking, contradicting what she felt in her body. Standing with effort, the merely ground prone Rock Lee could only stare with amazement at Hinata's courageous stance. "I'm not running or giving up! That's who I am. I'm standing for what I believe in, no matter what. That's my Nindo, my Ninja way!"
It was at this moment that Sasuke's smile vanished and his brow line hardened into an enraged glare. Lightning instinctively began to chirp and crackle around his left palm, his wrist slowly raising up to point in the Hyuga's direction. "Still following the dream of that pitiful loser? Fine! It's time you die like him!"
"Sasuke...!" Lee shouted aloud with alarm.
In that cry of pleading, a vibrant spear of light discharged from Sasuke's palm, slicing through the air with uncontested swiftness. But during the Jutsu's passing, it was suddenly interrupted, halted by an outstretched hand bound in X brands of black leather spanning the wrist while straps of independent ribbons flowed over his knuckles. The blurring wraith of black silk and a white-black collar with a crimson bandoleer flowing over his chest would face the would-be killer of Hinata.
"I-Ichigo?!" Hinata gasped aloud, feeling her heart nearly jump to her throat at the unexpected arrival coupled with her near death experience.
"You look tired, Hinata," Ichigo said plainly, only sparing a small glance over his shoulder while keeping a firm grip on the Chidori Spear, subtle crackling tension rattled underneath his palm. From his point of view, her face was full of cuts, with a gash over her forehead and her beautiful overcoat now shredded and dirtied by the debris. Lee suffered similar affects while sporting bleeding across his hands and feet, the places of which he strained his attacks the most from. "you and Lee better stand back. I'm going to handle this guy."
"B-But you-"
"Listen to him, Hinata," Neji spoke next to her, his body manifesting in a swift blur of his own, albeit at a much more delayed rate than Ichigo's had been. Kneeling beside her he draped an arm of hers around his shoulder, locking his lavender eyes with her own. "he is the only one in this city who can contend with Sasuke. Leave this to him and allow me to get you both to safety. You're in no condition to argue this matter."
"Y-Yes, brother," Hinata nodded, using her honorary term for her cousin as a sign of respect for one of her sole remaining relatives. As she felt herself carried over to where Lee stood agape at seeing Ichigo's present just stand there, unaffected by such a lethal Jutsu by grabbing it, she was soon joined by Lee at being shoulder-to-shoulder with Neji. Before they would leave, Hinata would call out to Ichigo one last time. "Ichigo!"
"Hm?" Ichigo looked back with a wide-eyed gaze of confusion.
"Win!" Hinata said with a determined, practically commanding visage. Receiving a stoic nod of confirmation, Hinata allowed herself to close her eyes and smile, knowing they had a stalwart protector among their midst. "please be careful..."
With a swift sprint, Neji hauled both of them with seemingly effortless dexterity and strength, allowing Ichigo to face Sasuke alone.
During the entirety of his initial arrival, Sasuke had been ridden into a state of silent shock. Had his Sharingan not been active he knew that he would have never even registered the man's movement of interception. Few had ever moved at such a speed that his originally deployed Jutsu could be met with such masterfully timed counter that he couldn't respond accordingly.
Then there was the fact he was holding his Chidori. Not only he thought this to be impossible by any stretch of human possibility, but that was something that led him to believe what the initial reports Pain had said were true. Something from the netherworld had come into theirs and already was defying logic that he had perceived to be sound.
"His Chakra," Sasuke began to think as he was concentrating on the girl. "it's pure white with recesses of black mingling between it. It's almost as if his Chakra is beating with two drums at the center as well. Whatever he is, spirit or superhuman, his power must be massive to just adjust it enough to hold Chidori physically."
When Ichigo's gaze met his, Sasuke's triple-comma crimson orbs narrowed with assertion. "So, you must be the Spirit everyone's so worked up about. Since I don't see you worst for wear I'm guessing you killed Shigure and Akimai?"
Ichigo tensed slightly at hearing the analytical words hit the mark precisely. He could only guess that from what little he studied that those weird eyes glaring at him were from before. He had known of his arrival from the get-go and was waiting for him and Neji to separate. Now he could tell he was a ethereal force by just looking at him, and it wasn't something he wanted to know why.
"Judging by your silence and body language I can deduce that you did. That's fine," Sasuke said impassively, closing his eyes momentarily to let out an exhale of resignation. "I never cared much for them. They were just getting in my way anyways so it's good to have them put down, even if it wasn't by my hand."
"I just killed his comrades and he doesn't even bat an eye? Somehow I shouldn't be surprised, and yet..." Ichigo thought with a visual growl, his teeth audibly grinding together.
Reopening his eyes, Sasuke coolly dispersed his Chidori Spear, causing the Chakra to fizzle out of substance between Ichigo's fingers. With his hand lowering to his side, Sasuke fixated his stare at him and briefly to his right, indicating the direction where Neji went. "I have no real interest in fighting you. If you wish to go elsewhere, it isn't really my concern. My quarry is the Konoha Shinobi you're traveling with, after all-"
"I'm not letting you pass!" Ichigo said resolutely.
"What was that?" Sasuke asked with feigned disbelief, his eyes predictably locking onto a hardened glare. "what's it to you what I do with them?"
"What's it...to me?!" Ichigo snarled, tightening his fists at his sides. As he continued to fixate his glare at Sasuke, his body began to ooze a vibrant aura of the most vibrant azure-white light, the spirit energy leaking out in tendrils. "after all the misery you helped incur...after betraying your comrades for revenge...you ask me what it should mean?!"
The ground began to quake underneath his feet, webbed cracks of the ruined street began to spread, the air itself distorting into a visual display of static. The shining azure light began to spread out like a brilliant bonfire, creating a mingling affect of black-white colors before Sasuke's Sharingan. With a lasting shout, Ichigo's body would discharge a gale force wind of sheer bodily light that pressured the environment all around him. "YOU SHOULD ASK WHAT IT MEANS TO THEM WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, SASUKE UCHIHA!"
Sasuke's eyes widened with surprise at just how much power came from the rage of this being. But after a few long seconds of his hair billowing about his scalp in tune with the lowest curtails of his overlapping coat to his shins and calves, he glared back in annoyance. A spare hand grasped the edge of his Kusanagi hilt, slowly unsheathing it as his crimson eyes continued to glare at him with a newfound menace.
"You'd never understand me, Spirit," Sasuke growled back, sword humming through the air as it was fully brought out of its dark hued scabbard. "not that it will matter once I send you back to the netherworld!"
A/N: Whew! I told you I'd be posting these things on infrequent dates, wouldn't I? Regardless, I apologize about the longer than normal update. This last week ALONE was difficult to adjust to, physically and emotionally, so I was often left too tired to write much. Hopefully this coming few weeks won't be so taxing XD
Now, about this Chapter, I'll try and address a few things about what's occurred. Let's see...what should I go over first? -taps chin-
Okay, some of you may be wondering why I named Kabuto "Kabutomaru". Simply, the suffix of "maru" actually means, "Perfect". Knowing that Kabuto in Canon after he injected himself with all the various petri dishes of DNA, most prominently being Orochimaru's by visual appearance, he was quite full of himself and thought to be the perfect Shinobi. So from now on, anytime you see Kabutomaru think "Snake Man," lol
So about K-7, "Kabuto" looks more or less what Kabutomaru USED to look like minus a few aesthetic changes. Why does he look like him? Is he a Clone? Who knows? I'm not telling ya right now =w=
Now for Hinata and Lee's battle with Sasuke. It's obvious I'm a big fan of Hinata at this point. The fact she's taken great strides forward since the time she's shined dimly (they could have done SO MUCH MORE WITH YOU) apart from her ineffective one-woman stand against Pain on Naruto's behalf, she hasn't gotten much love. So I made some techniques surrounding her use of Gentle Fist techs among manipulating Chakra Shape to a form much more adeptly than even Neji could employ. Hope you all liked it, for what it is worth ^^
The next fight is going to be Sasuke and Ichigo! Will Ichigo come out on top and bring down the bloodthirsty avenger? Or will Sasuke render even a Shinigami helpless before his might? Find out in the next chapter of, Reap the Pain!
Please leave comments below in the Review section of what you thought of this chapter :)
Extra Treats!: More translations! Hope you enjoy them ;)
Hinata's Techs:
-Juho, Rasenten Kakou ("Gentle Step, Spiral Heaven Drop,")
-Hakke Kusho ("Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm,")
-Hakke Kuhekisho ("Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm,")
-Juho, Soushiken (Gentle Step, Twin Lion Fists,")
-Juho, Shishimanto (Gentle Step, Lion Mantle,")
Sasuke's Techs:
-Katon, Ryuka no Jutsu ("Fire Release, Dragon Flame Technique,")
-Souchidori ("Double One Thousand Birds,")
-Susano'o ("He with the ability to help by all means,")
-Katon, Housenka no Jutsu ("Fire Release, Phoenix Sage Fire Technique,")
-Katon, Gouryuka no Jutsu (Fire Release, Great Dragon Flame Technique,")
Lee's Techs:
-Seishun Taifunami ("Youthful Typhoon Strength,")